Portland Folk Are Just Plain Smarter

Well, if it wasn’t enough that those of us in Portland already suffer from a superiority complex based on our early adoption of biking, going “green” in nearly every way possible, high per capita college degree holding, and abundunt strip clubs (what?) …

Multnomah County has the highest collection turnover rate per capita — meaning its books, CDs, DVDs and other materials are checked out at twice the rate of the national average.

Seriously, Portland is a weirdo place. I can’t tell you how many coffee shop barristas I know who have masters degrees, but decided that they wanted a more mellow life. One of the coffee shops I frequent regularly is owned by a guy who will sit with me and talk about Foucault, neuroscience, and Quantum game theory (my masters-degree focus).

People here are freakishly well read. Now I know why: all that “liberal” access to libraries – Oh My!

As my friend, Tony, once said, “In every city, the strippers say they are ‘working their way through college’. In Portland, it’s true.”

I think it’s more a reflection of the fact that, unlike many libraries, Multnomah County has a ton of new music. I had friends who wouldn’t buy CDs they’d just check them out from the library and rip them.